


will you wait?

by quiznaaak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay, Good times, Hell, M/M, POV First Person, Takashi Shirogane - Freeform, a fuckton of gore, also gore, anyways fuck, anyways its gay, anyways lmao, blooooooood, bloooooooooooooooooooooooooood, but then it fuckin smacks you in the face, dammit keith what the hell nobody likes your smudged eyeliner, first person POV, gay hell i guess, good times man, hunk - Freeform, in which keith is not the hero everyone likes to believe he is., its gay but you have to squint as first, katie holt - Freeform, keith is emo again, keith kogane - Freeform, klance, klangst, lance mcclain - Freeform, like HELLO HOMOSEXUALITY, like so much blood, pidge gunderson - Freeform, so much, so much blood, sorry lmao, this is hell, wow so much blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:08:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9595070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiznaaak/pseuds/quiznaaak
Summary: the good die young





	

We realized much too late that this mission was useless.  
I was hiding with Keith in a Galra cruiser, and we had planned on taking out the command center of the ship, then drop Pidge in and have her hijack it once she received her cue. It was a foolproof plan, nobody could mess it up. We’ve done it before. Yes, on smaller ships, but regardless, it could be done.  
I heard Keith turn his com on and quickly whisper to someone. He overheard fragments of sentences, like “fruitless plan” and “probably get caught”. I could hear Pidge’s reply clearly, though, telling us that this cruiser had info on it that would be vital in the war. Hell, it might even be what would make us win.  
“Hunk is in a jam, and Pidge is being a pompous prick.” Keith sighed. “I knew this was a bad idea.”  
“Hey.” I said quietly. I took Keith’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Don’t give up now.”  
With that, Keith smiled and poked his head out of their hiding spot. I could see his head swivel, and his mullet swung side to side.  
“All clear.” Keith muttered.  
As we stepped out, I tried to remember what Shiro had told us about the pattern of the Galra sentries. My mind, annoyingly, blanked out, and I hoped that Keith remembered.  
I heard the sound of Keith’s bayard forming a sword, and I armed myself out of instinct. I didn’t want Keith to be fighting on his own.  
“Lance! Keith!” Shiro yelled through their coms. “Abort mission! There is no way we will be able to pull this off!”  
“Uh, we’re kind of in a jam right now. We’ll need some help getting out of here.” I murmured.  
“Hang tight, We’ll be there in-”  
Something exploded around the next corner. I rushed down and made a quick peek, only to realize that this was not actually an explosion.  
About a dozen soldiers, not sentries, marched down the hallway in unison, each step echoing off the walls, sounding like thunder, getting close to the corner I was looking around. One looked me dead in the eye, paused, and started spouting what I could only assume were orders in Galra to the other soldiers. I instantly ran, grabbing Keith’s arm and pulling him along when I passed by him, but the damage was already done.  
“What the hell?” Keith gasped as he started sprinting.  
“I was spotted” I panted. “They’re after us.”  
Keith swore under his breath. There were footsteps behind us, no longer in unison, but still horrifying. I aimed my gun behind him and fired without looking and heard a small crash, probably taking out only one or two soldiers. The rest kept chasing them. He heard them getting closer and closer, and I couldn’t risk shooting behind myself again unless I wanted to risk them grabbing my gun.  
“Shiro!” Keith screamed, hoping that he would catch on. We had their coms on the whole time, so he and Pidge definitely overheard Keith and I. “We can’t take these guys on alone!”  
Oh man, I though as the soldiers were getting closer. There is no way this can end well.  
As we were running, I felt Keith take my hand and pull me closer to him very slightly. We looked each other in the eye, for just a moment, and we both understood what was going to happen.  
I felt an arm latch onto my shoulder and pull me back. I could only watch and scream as they did the same to Keith. God, please don’t let them hurt him.  
I heard muttering and talking in Galra, and suddenly I felt something hit me in the back of the head, and the universe went black.

 

I woke up in a dark room with two Galra soldiers and Keith lying limp on the other side. My legs was in excruciating pain, probably from sprinting for so long, but when I noticed that, although I had no chains on my legs, I couldn’t move them, I realized they were broken. I looked over to Keith. He didn’t have any visible injuries except for a black eye, and he looked like he was blacked out. I shifted myself to get a better look, and screamed in the process because of the pain shifting onto my legs. It felt as if my bones were stabbing me from the inside, which was actually totally probable, I realized.  
The soldiers turned my direction, stared for a second or two, and marched over.  
“Where is your ship?” One asked in a harshly-toned and heavily accented English. “We will know if you lie.”  
I didn’t respond, partially because I wasn’t going to give my friends up like that, and also because I didn’t even know if I could. My throat was dry and sore, and I was in the worst pain that I could imagine.  
One grabbed my right hand. He pulled out a knife, one much to short to use as a weapon, but nevertheless very sharp. He placed it right above my knuckle on my pinky.  
“Let’s try again.” He growled. “Where is your ship?”  
“I don’t know…” I managed, quietly. All of the sudden, I guess my adrenaline kicked in or something, because suddenly I was yelling. “I don’t know! Please!”  
“He lies.” The second soldier whispered.  
“No, no, no, no! Please!” I felt tears rushing down my face as the knife pressed into my flesh, separating bones. I didn’t know I could scream this loud. I felt blood flowing and coming out of my finger steadily, dropping onto his armor and staining it. Oh my god, this is what Shiro went through. Pure anguish burned through my entire body, I felt like I was slowly passing out.  
He stopped after he was about halfway through the finger. They both stepped away after, spoke rapid Galra, and put the knife back in its sheath.  
“Maybe if we can’t convince you, then maybe your teammate can.” He spoke with a twisted smile, stepping closer to Keith.  
“No!” I screamed. “Don’t! I’ll do anything, I’ll tell you anything! Don’t hurt him!”  
His smile got even worse. “I see.” He grabbed Keith’s shoulders and shook him awake, and Keith opened his eyes quickly. He looked at the Galra soldier, then to me, undoubtedly noticing my blood all over me. You could see that he tried to stay calm, but his eyes spoke otherwise.  
“The hell do you want?” He hissed, anger seeping out between his teeth.  
The soldier smirked. “Information.”  
“Lance is strong, if you hurt me, he won’t give you anything.” He spoke, steadily but angrily.  
“Oh, he won’t be the one giving information.” The soldier smiled. He walked back over to me, and pulled me to a spot in the room where Keith could see me clearly.  
“Keith, don’t listen to them, don’t tell them anything, don’t-” I cut myself off with a guttural scream, echoing off the walls and the soldier slowly started sawing through my finger again. The pain was worse than it was before, probably because I was already sore there. I heard nothing but my own screaming, and the world was in shades of red in my eyes. The pain only stopped when I felt numbness in my finger, as if it weren’t there anymore. As my vision started to clear, I realized that it was because it wasn’t there anymore.  
I could hear Keith sobbing. He was saying something, but I couldn’t tell what.  
“This one is no use to us.” The other soldier said quietly. “He won’t give anything.”  
“Let’s try one more time, and f he doesn’t give, then I’ll listen.”  
And with that, he started carving into my ring finger. The pain wasn’t as bad this time, but I was still screaming, regardless. Keith had shut his eyes and plugged his ears, and I was glad he did. I didn’t want him to see me in pain like this.  
When that finger came off too, That’s when a glimmer of hope finally appeared.  
“Keith! Lance! We’re on our way!” Hunk’s voice sounded from my com, which was about three or four feet away, but Keith still had his on his head.  
The soldier with the knife stood up, presumably to prevent them from getting here. “No.” The other one stopped him. “Let them come.” He pulled out a handgun.  
_“DON’T HURT HIM!”_ Keith stood up. Somehow, he had gotten loose from his handcuffs, and he wrestled them for the gun.  
“KEITH!” I screamed. He couldn’t win this, not without his sword, which was across the room. The fight turned into a blur, and I couldn’t help, because I couldn’t move.  
Actually…  
I dragged myself with my good hand across the room, close enough to Keith’s bayard, mine right next to it. I couldn’t do anything with it now, I couldn’t hold a gun properly, but I could wield a sword in my left hand.  
I used the sword as something to pull me back to the fight, where Keith had gotten himself tangled up. I pushed the sword as close to him as possible, and he kicked it up to himself. He quickly stabbed the first guy in the chest.  
Yeah, now we’re safe. Keith can save us, and everyone else is on their way. We’ll be fine.  
Then I heard the bang.  
Keith stood, stern-eyed, for just a moment, as if he was trying to say something. I looked him in the eye, and I instantly knew what he was trying to tell me, and then he fell forwards. I looked, and there was a hole in the back of his head, and blood poured out quickly.  
“KEITH!” I screamed, again. I pulled myself as close as I could to him, despite his blood being splattered and smeared across my armor, mixing with my own. I reached him and quickly covered the wound with my hand, hoping that maybe if I couldn’t see it, it wasn’t real. I look my injured hand and used the fingers I had left to try to find a pulse, with no avail. I put my left hand on his back, trying to see if he was breathing. It’s fake. This can’t be real, Keith can’t be dead.  
I heard the door open, a quick shot from a cannon, and the other soldier flump to the ground.  
“Keith! Lance!” Shiro yelled. “Thank god you’re alright.”  
I didn’t respond. I instantly started sobbing. I was screaming his name, crying, begging for this to be fake. I flipped Keith over, his eyes barely open, and the gray irises were empty. They were blank and the only expression left on his face was fear. I hated it, his face could never be immortalized in an expression he never used. I brought him up to my chest, holding him there, breathing in the scent of his body, blood mixed with hair product and sweat. I dug my chin into the crook of his neck, the same way I would when we held each other on the couch in the palace. I eventually stopped forming words and just screamed and sobbed, kissing his neck gently. The blood poured onto the floor and down his back, my hands and arms soaked with the warm fluid.  
I pulled his head up to mine and pressed my lips against his gently. They were cold and bloodless, and they cracked when I pulled away.  
“ _Keith…”_

 

* * *

 

I woke up to being shaken by a Galra soldier.  
Oh fuck, was my first thought. Where’s Lance?  
I quickly scanned my surroundings, noting the two Galra soldiers and our bayards on the other side of the room. I could barely see Lance to me left, and he looked at me, wide eyed, and blood splattered all over his body and face. I tried to contain my rage, but I failed.  
“What the hell do you want?” I hissed, anger seething between my lips.  
The soldier smirked. He had the nerve, the audacity, to hurt Lance, then pull this horseshit.  
“Information.”  
I felt like laughing at him, but I swallowed it.  
“Lance is strong.If you hurt me, he won’t give you anything.” I spoke. I don’t know how I kept my cool there. I felt like I was going the deck him, but my hands were cuffed together in front of me. I could deck him, but it wouldn’t do much but get me killed.  
“Oh, he won’t be the one giving information.” The soldier turned his back on me, pulled out a knife, and dragged Lance so he was right in front of me. I felt myself go numb.  
“Keith, don’t listen to them, don’t tell them anything, don’t-” His sentence became a scream, a scream that made my heart wrench and my eyes water. I closed my eyes and squeezed them shut, hot tears falling and landing on my armor. My sobbing mixed with Lance’s screaming, and it was the saddest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I couldn’t bear seeing him in pain like this. I hated myself for crying. This isn’t like you, I told myself. You’re Keith Kogane, you should be screaming and yelling at them so that they get you instead! But I couldn’t make myself do anything. My body felt devoid of energy, Lance’s screams draining any and all hope from my body.  
The screaming stopped, but I kept crying, because holy shit I cannot deal with him screaming like that. I opened my eyes, and started crying even harder when I realized that Lance only had nine fingers, the tenth lying on the floor, covered in blood. Lance didn’t deserve this, and it was my fault he got into this.  
“Keith. Keith, do you hear me?” Shiro whispered.  
“Y-yeah.” I managed to whisper.  
“What’s going on?”  
I sighed out of sheer exhaustion from crying. “We’re being tortured for information, Lance has already lost a finger. You need to get here as soon as possible, I don’t know how much they’ll push us until they decide to kill us.” Halfway through the sentence, it had processed that my com has been on this whole time, and Lance’s was probably on too, even though he wasn’t wearing his helmet.  
“We’ll be there as soon as we can.”  
Thank god, we’ll be alright. This won’t last much longer.  
I guess I missed something important, because I looked back over to Lance, and they had placed the knife on his ring finger. As soon as the screams started, I shut my eyes and plugged my ears. This wasn’t real, this wasn’t happening. I was back home, in my little house in the middle of a desert. I was just another conspiracy theorist, nothing to be afraid of.  
_Nothing to be afraid of._  
I opened my eyes and took my fingers out of my ears. They had taken my bayard, but they hadn’t taken my knife. I furiously brought my hands behind my back, pushing the sheath to the side, dumping my knife on the floor on the other side of me. I quickly brought my hands around to that side, pushed the knife so it stood upright, and brought my hands down on it, breaking the cuffs. The blade was, no doubt, blunt, after being hit with metal, so it now rendered useless until I sharpened it later.  
“Keith! Lance! We’re on our way!” Hunk’s voice rang in my ears. Thank god. We’d finally get out of here.  
One soldier went for the door, but the other soldier stopped him.  
“Let them come.” He pulled a handgun out.  
At that moment, all the fury that should have been felt ten minutes climbed into my throat. A burning ball of anguish and pain grew hotter and hotter in my chest, and I felt something break in my stomach, like a crystal ball shattered.  
My anger frothed at my lips, clouding my brain, fogging my movements. Emotion overtook every muscle in my body, and I was a forest fire of emotion, burning my skin and mind. I wasn’t breathing, I was simply being, and nothing could ever stand in my way, I’d burn it down.  
_“DON’T HURT HIM!”_ Everything inside of me exploded. I jumped up and instantly sprinted towards the soldiers, locking my hands onto the edge of the gun. I heard Lance call my name, but I wasn’t really listening. I had to protect him. The tussle continued, and I felt something poke me in my shoe. When I looked down and realized that it was my bayard, I kicked it up to myself.  
It felt so much more natural to have a sword in my hands. I turned away and stabbed the soldier without the gun, killing him. I hoped that maybe it was a good intimidation tactic.  
Then I heard the bang.  
Time stopped.  
Lance was in front of me, staring at me, _please don’t let him watch this happen._ There’s nothing I can do, and I don’t want him to see this. God, please, _don’t let him suffer._  
I’ve failed. I couldn’t do it. The bullet behind me was the proof. The fact that I’m leaving him behind, defenseless without his bayard, was the proof. But, in this moment, I knew that I loved him more than I’ve loved anything before. I wanted him to be the last thing I’d see, His stare was calming, as if he thought that I could save him. His naïve beliefs were always what calmed everybody down.  
I didn’t plan for this, I didn’t have a will, all I had were words that I didn’t have the time to say, but I desperately needed to tell him. He needed to know how much I love him, how much I care for him, how much he means to me, but god damn it, all he will have is past memories of us.  
_God damn it!_ I’ve failed him, I failed our mission, I’ve failed our team, I’ve failed love. I’d never see him smile again. I looked him in the eye, and hope he got what I was trying to say.  
_I love you._  
Time came back.  
I felt the bullet pierce my head with unimaginable pain.  
Then it was over.

**Author's Note:**

> Then I heard the bang.  
> Keith stood, stern-eyed, for just a moment, as if he was trying to say something. I looked him in the eye, and I instantly knew what he was trying to tell me, and then he fell forwards. I looked, and there was a hole in the back of his head, and blood poured out quickly.  
> I instantly stood up. This was fake. My legs weren't broken.  
> I picked Keith up and lifted him above my head.  
> "THIS BITCH EMPTY!"  
> As I threw him across the room, I screeched, "YEET!"  
> When his body hit the wall, I laughed and high-fived the Galra. Keith's corpse was making finger guns in the corner, and he was wearing sunglasses.  
> Fuck you, Keith.


End file.
